American Apparel Settles Worker Death Suit For $1 Million

American Apparel will pay $1 million to settle a lawsuit in California over the death of an employee in a knitting machine accident. The Orange County district attorney’s office, in announcing the settlement last month, said the worker’s daughter will receive $150,000 of the proceeds. The balance covers civil penalties and the cost of the accident’s investigation. The employee, 49-year-old Tuan Phan, was mangled by the machine at the company’s Garden Grove factory in 2011. The machine involved had been turned off, but wasn’t locked and disconnected from its power source for maintenance. American Apparel claims that no safety laws were violated.